I'm pretty gutted about not being able to use MSC firmware, since all my music is ogg vorbis encoded. This means I can't DnD them onto the player in Windohs. Not only that, but when I get them on the player via Samsung Media Studio, I find out the YP-U3 can't read tags in ogg files. That wouldn't matter if I could browse the directory structure (even though SMS tries it's best to remove it), but the MTP firmware won't even do that. Rubbish. Can anyone confirm that it is possible to browse directories with the MSC/UMS firmware? I'll be trying to write to Samsung about these issues and it would be useful to know.

I personally bought my U3 in Australia, I tried contacting Samsung Hong Kong (which provides UMS/MSC firmware) and Samsung Australia (MTP firmware) by email. But none bothers to reply. Its been for a week or two already.

The U3 is the only Samsung DAP which will not accept UMS firmware. All others can, so do not them down for this reason. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come from Samsung, as there are many people who do not wish to use MTP.

well, i think this IS a sign.
but, hmm, maybe i should have read more tests before buying this product. but i didn't even think of the possibility that an average mp3 player like the U3 could not do UMS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyJojo

If any of you got any updates please let us know.

i got an reply from samsung austria today. they told me that the UMS firmware i want doesn't exist (for my model) and that they cannot say whether there will be a UMS firmware in the future, but i can keep checking the download center on www.samsung.at for firmware updates (...)

I sent an email to info@samsung.co.kr, support@samsung.co.kr and helpdesk@samsung.co.kr and no response yet. I also send an email to the Dutch support centre. From them I received an email that my questions are redirected to the correct department within the support team... but no response from them yet.

Hi, I don't know if this is any help, but here is the correspondence I have had with Samsung:

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UMS Firmware option

The YP-U3JAB MP3 Player uses MTP rather than UMS, and so cannot be used as a flash drive, and cannot work with Linux properly. Apparently there is a UMS version of the Korean firmware but I have already upgraded to EU 1.08, and the YP-U3 will not downgrade to this version for me. Is there any other option for changing the YP-U3 to UMS?
-----------
Thank you for contacting Samsung Electronics.

Customer Reference: 2102053708
With regards to your email. Unfortunately there is no way of changing
the format of the MP3 fromMTP to UMS. The U3 is infact a flash drive,
Samsung do not manufacturea hard drive MP3 anymore.

I hope this has been of some assistance toyou. If you do have any
further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards

----------
Thank you for your reply.

I should clarify that I wasn't asking if I could change my flash drive to a HDD drive, but to change the drive protocol from MTP to UMS so that it can be used in the same way as a memory pen can (as a standard external storage device), without having to separately install drivers from CD onto the computer that it would be used with.

Previous samsung flash drives have been able to do this, and I am given to understand that this model can too, albeit only with the Korean firmware version (available at

Hi, I don't know if this is any help, but here is the correspondence I have had with Samsung:

Thank you for contacting Samsung Electronics.

Your reference number is 2102053708

Unfortunately, youcannot change the YP-U3 from MTP to UMS.

The UK model will only workas MTP on a Windows PC.

However, when connected to a Macintosh it should automatically act as an
UMS device.

We don't recommend using a Korean firmware upgrade on a UK YP-U3.

If they don't recommend to force a firmware update, that could mean that the hardware in the player itself is different than the Korean version and you can kill your player. Probably the Korean version doesn't have this Janus chipset. If the hardware is really different, we are not so lucky then .

But it is strange that they say the player will act as an UMS device when connected to a Mac. Can anyone confirm this?

I still don't have any answers from local (Dutch) support nor from Korean support (if I addressed the mail correctly)

I use Winamp, the last version is compatible with MTP DAP and can put the .ogg files to the YP-U3 and the U3 can read the tags of .ogg files

Thanks for the advice. I got the latest free download and Winamp does seem quite neat. However I still can't read .ogg tags on the player, so I don't know how they work for you? My tags work in other apps . Edit: At least Winamp keeps the folders unlike SMS.

If I'm reading this discussion correctly, does this mean that the U3 can't be used as a flash drive? This seems absolutely insane!

well, i can still put (any) files on the U3 via the windows explorer but windows does not assign a drive letter to it and it's not as comfortable as you would normally expect. for instance i cannot simply rename a file on the U3, just delete and copy to it. i can't create a directory either, but only create one elsewhere and then copy it on the U3. and into the bargain for me it only works on one windows system. on the other one, it doesn't recognize my U3. i tried many hints (posted in this forum) but gave up after some time. (it probably hasn't anything to do with the U3 itself because it seems to be a common problem with MTP devices and media player 11, but, well, it's another reason why i would have preferred a UMS firmware because i NEVER experienced any problems there).

as i said before i wouldn't recommend buying this product. it's okay to provide MTP firmware, but not letting the user choose is a darned cheek!

Really strange, can you read the ogg tags on winamp ?
I can see the tags with my U3, I've got the 1.08 firmware.

That's just odd. I think it does read them for the bouncing message, but it doesn't enter them into the browseable database of artists etc. I gave up and started ripping as MP3, the ogg problem has bitten me once too often.. together with the fact that ogg uses more energy to play back and that I recorded at a very frugal rate when I started ripping, it seemed better to do it again. That said I have some things that I can't re-encode, so I still want the issues sorted.

I have a Macbook and the U3 is not detected AT ALL by it. I tried for a few days without luck. It charges up (erratically) but it doesn't show up anywhere in OSX 10.4.9. Using Boot Camp, WinXP detects it, but it's only usable with the Samsung software or Windows Media Player.

I called up Samsung Australia and they told me to return it to the store (JB HiFi), so I did and got a refund. Very disappointing because it is the best little thing I've seen. The only thing missing is MSC/UMS support. I don't want DRM music!

Anyhow, to repeat, DO NOT buy the U3 if you have a Mac. What they say on some websites about it working as UMS if you have a Mac is bull. Samsung Support themselves say this isn't true or supported or even tested.

I hope UMS firmware is possible one day, though I had no way to even copy the firmware onto the U3!

a graphical interface for two libraries used to interface mtp mp3 players to OSX and Linux. I left a message on their forum, and one administrator didn't exclude the possibility of the YP-U3 working with XBNJ. He was very kind and he might further investigate if he's provided with a couple of technical details.
I think I'lll give the yp-u3 a go

I just got it working in Ubuntu Feisty using Amarok, but I had to build the latest libmtp (0.2.1) myself to do it. AFAIK 0.1.5 would be good enough if the device id list is updated (there was a webpage where someone had a patch and instructions), but that needs you to patch 1.5 source and build anyway.
In either case I also needed some hackery with /etc/udev/rules.d/ to grant enough permission for a simple user to mount it.
So anyway, its possible under Linux and I have transferred files succesfully. I assume if it works for Ubuntu it can be done for OSX too?
UMS would be so much easier

botode: interesting stuff with XNJB, though I want something that I can use as both an mp3 player and a flash drive. That means something that I can just plug into any computer at work and have it work as UMS, without modification. Please keep me posted on how your U3-on-a-Mac efforts go... that goes for any other Mac users out there too.

Well I say got it to work, but what I really mean is that I followed the very helpful link to XNJB, installed it & what do you know?

Where I previously had a dead Samsung YP U3 sitting in my usb drive the little thing started to flash and I was in blue LED heaven ...

This was a huge relief to me since I had actually bought the YP U3 as a birthday gift for my sister & I was worrying I'd have to return it and get her another MP3 player that is actually compatible with mac os. I didn't even bother checking the YP-U3 since I have the very excellent Samsung YP-F1 which just plugs in anywhere and does its thing ...